Lots of Russian immigrants where I'm at. I once had a Russian dude tell that the Soviets actually encouraged Soviet men to drink and smoke. According to my Russian friend, most heavy drinkers and smokers could remain on the job, and be productive, into their mid 50s, at which point they would die, and the government didn't have to pay them a pension.

Well I don't know if I would trust the study, it's Russian; where are they going to find a sample group large enough that drink less then one bottle a week? They're like North Korean studies on how more food makes you fat, there just are enough examples to get any good results.